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WHL Brandon Wheat Kings

Brandon Wheat Kings Insider: Regular Season Ends; Playoffs Set

March 15, 2009 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Brandon Wheat Kings News Release


The Brandon Wheat Kings brought the curtain down on their 2008-09 Western Hockey League regular season Saturday night at Westman Communications Group on a winning note.

The Wheat Kings scored five unanswered second period goals en route to a 6-3 victory and a sweep of their weekend home and home series with the Moose Jaw Warriors. Center Brayden Schenn scored once and set up two others to pace the Wheat Kings, who finished the regular season with a record of 48-19-3-2, good for 101 points.

This marked the first time since 1996 and only the fifth time in franchise history that the Wheat Kings have reached the century mark in points.

Nathan Green, Chad Erb, Matt Calvert, Aaron Lewadniuk and Brodie Melnychuk also scored for the Wheat Kings, who finish the regular season in second place in the Eastern Division - two points behind Saskatoon - and third in the Conference.

Brandon will now meet the Kootenay Ice in the best of seven Eastern Conference quarterfinals, beginning Friday, March 20th at Westman Place. The Ice secured the sixth seed in the Conference Saturday night with a 4-1 victory over the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes. The 'Canes will now meet Saskatoon in round one.

Following is the schedule for Brandon's opening round playoff series:

Game 1 - Fri. March 20th @ Brandon (Game Time 7:30 CST)

Game 2 - Sat. March 21st @ Brandon (Game Time 7:30 CST)

Game 3 - Tue. March 24th @ Kootenay (Game Time 7:00 MST)

Game 4- Wed. March 25th @ Kootenay (Game Time 7:00 MST)

Game 5 - Fri. March 27th @ Brandon (Game Time 7:30 CST)

Game 6 - Sun. March 29th @ Kootenay (Game Time 7:00 MST)

Game 7 - Tue. March 31st @ MTS Centre in Winnipeg (Time to be confirmed)

In other news, Schenn won his second straight Wheat King scoring title with 32 goals and 88 points and was named this year's winner of the Capitol Theatre Most Popular Player during the second intermission of Saturday night's game. Jay Fehr meanwhile was named winner of the Precision Toyota Unsung Hero of the Year during the first intermission. The Wheat Kings fell shy of establishing a new franchise Single Season attendance record with Saturday's second straight sell out of 5,054 fans.

The Wheat Kings attracted a total of 147,218 (4,090 fans per home game) during the regular season, which is just over 1,000 short of the club record of 148,761 (2006-07).

Sunday night, the WHL club will host its annual Awards Banquet at the Victoria Inn. On Monday, preparations will begin for the Wheat Kings opening round playoff series with the Ice.

Tickets to Brandon's first two playoff home games are on sale now at the Keystone Centre box office. Western Manitoba hockey fans can also order by phone at 726-3555 or online at ticketmaster.ca

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Western Hockey League Stories from March 15, 2009


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